I have quite a messy desk at work, and that messiness state is reflect on my desk (or kitchen counter or some other work space) at home. Not matter what I do, it returns to this state of messiness in a few days.

If you don't manage to follow through on some of the great answers you have got here, you can allways take comfort in a sign I once saw hanging on the wall behind the desk in a stamps and coins shop, which said: "A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind"
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aweSep 8 '11 at 8:02

10 Answers
10

There is "two weeks box rule" to clear some space :)
It states following:
1.Take a box and put things/papers you don't want to keep but hesitating to throw them into garbage.
2.If you need something from the box during two weeks take it but do not put back,
try to find it's place.
3.After two weeks throw away things those are still in the box.
:)

Really like this as it allows one last opportunity before finally it into the rubbish bin.
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tehnyitSep 2 '11 at 8:38

I took a look at your Pomodorium.com, really fun, and I also have the same idea to score and rank online. You are moving further. The game-style is very nice. I personally like the idea, and I think it's brilliant! But I'm confusing that why the traffic of your Pomodorium.com is not high.
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Mason ZhangJan 11 '12 at 14:30

It's not a problem, and it's not a habit you should change. It's a sign of your organized mind.

Messy spaces are widely considered the sign of a disorganized and
un-together person. Not for Norman:

"In Norman's view, Gore's desk is the cluttered extension of an
organized mind. Indeed, Norman interviewed many seemingly organized
owners of messy workspaces and heard them repeatedly request, "Please
don't clean my desk." The apparent disorder of the office was being
carefully tracked in their minds.

How do people cope with such apparent disorder? The answer lies in the
phrase “underlying structure.” My desk looks chaotic and
incomprehensible to anyone who is unaware of the reasoning behind the
many disparate piles. Once the structure is revealed and understood,
the complexity fades away.

I'm proud of having not only my desk, but my entire room full of things everywhere. And when I need something, I absolutely know where to find it.

I am struggling with this same issue. I have two thoughts: go at it in categories! and, ask yourself if there are emotional/psychological issues making this hard for you.

Firstly, I remember how I used to do it as a kid: first the paper products. Ok, I was a bigger kid by this time :) Anything with paper in it: Kleenexes, papers, magazines, posters, invitations - I would gather them up and deal with them first. Put them away or throw them away.

OK, then I'd look around and see what other categories of things there were - I used to like to categorize. And I'd deal with them. All the toys in their places. All the clothes in their places. All the dishes. Etc. Now I have to add financial papers, work materials, etc etc. More categories. Too many categories now! Ahrgh!

I would also check in with yourself to see if there are psychological issues to address:

Are you subconsciously trying to keep people from interfering in your life/work? A good way to do it is to make sure they can't find anything in your space. :)

Are you putting blocks in your way so you can't go forward? Why? What are you afraid of? Can you let that go?

Do you want privacy and time alone, but you don't want to just say it, so you make it physically impossible for people to come into your space, or make it so you won't let them in due to pride?

Do you feel badly about yourself and fear letting people get too close? If so, again, building walls of clutter will give you a good excuse to keep them away.

Did you grow up with uncertainty or criticism? This can make you feel uncertain or helpless when it comes to organizing your own surroundings.

There are so many other things that can keep us from creating an orderly world around us.

Two questions:
1.) When you think of cleaning your desk/work area, do you tend to justify inaction on the basis that it will take too long (ie, "I don't have time to clean up!")?

2.) When you go to throw a document out, do you tend to worry about what will happen if, through a series of events as unlikely as an alignment of several celestial bodies, you somehow need that document at some point in the future?

If you answered yes to both these questions, then I would give you the following advice: being disorganised is a very expensive way to save time, and storing masses of out of date documents is a very time-consuming security blanket.

From my own experience I have found that reassuring myself that I am saving time by cleaning my desk is a great way to get it done. Also, every time I throw out an old set of hand-written notes, I tell myself that this way I am going to be able to find things when I need to. Maybe being organised is about giving yourself permission to do so!

Put your stuff where they belong. And probably that's not on your desk. Think about where you need to put them eventually and put them there the first time, right away! No 'place in between', you know what to do with it.